Questions from Ferguson

Our opinion: Violence in a Midwestern city over the police killing of an unarmed black teen should prompt communities to examine how police are trained and equipped to do their job.

No matter what the eventual findings may be in the investigation of the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., it’s clear the problems there go back well before the first tear gas canister was launched or the first Molotov cocktail was thrown.

How far back? Certainly to the presence of heavily armed police at the first community protests, with police officers dressed in military uniforms and positioned atop armored cars like snipers. Certainly to an initial police response that was indifferent to the community’s demand for answers on why a young man was slain. How much of the ensuing tension would have been defused by a statement of shared concern, and an explanation of the facts as they became known?

The turmoil goes further back, to hiring practices in a predominantly white department in a heavily minority community; to training — or lack of it — in community policing; and to an emphasis, with federal help, on militarization over communication.

Ferguson underscores the need for an examination everywhere, including in New York, on the role of police departments. How well are they integrated; how much do they reflect the people they serve and protect? What prevails — a sense that police and civilians are on the same side, or an “us

them” mentality? What are the policies and training on the use of force? And are officers armed and equipped like police, or in a fashion more suited to an occupying army?

The buildup of police armament in communities across the country hasn’t happened unintentionally; in the wake of 9

11, military surplus from assault rifles and protective gear to grenade launchers and military vehicles, became a new kind of pork. And where SWAT teams were once an extraordinary response, they seem more and more to be standard operating procedure. These concerns transcend ideological lines. They’re shared increasingly by credible voices on the right and the left.

The left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union has launched a petition drive against the militarization of police. At the right-leaning Rutherford Institute, founder John Whitehead, author of, “A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State,” describes Ferguson as another example of a shift in policing: “Whereas in the past, law enforcement strove to provide a sense of security, trust and comfort, the impression conveyed today is one of power, dominance and inflexible authority.”

It is not just how police are armed that is at issue, but how they approach their job. That’s what’s at issue, for example, in Staten Island, where an investigation is under way into the death of a man — arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes — after an officer put him in a chokehold.

We appreciate that police must often make split-second decisions to protect the public and themselves. This is not about tying their hands. It’s about examining how a free society can also be a safe one, and how the words “serve and protect” need not, and must not, be mutually exclusive.

10 Responses

While the acquisition of military equipment is a matter that will be discussed and decided upon in the future, the day to day operations of police forces, including those who have received the equipment has not changed. The notion that the programs have turned police agencies into mini-armies and police officers into soldiers needs to be objectively examined. What I see happening is a trend to repeat the phrase “militarization of policing” as if it is a proven fact.

Perhaps communities should also examine the why some community members consistently escalate police stops by non-cooperation, arguing, resistance, fighting police which inevitably will lead to something bad for that person…….there is no mystery to how this outcomes become outcomes. Oddly, whenever stopped by police, I’ve yes-sired/no-sired my way through without ever having any type of escalation.

While I agree that many police departments may be over equipped with more “war-like” uniforms vehicles and equipment. I must disagree with the contention that some departments are improperly staffed with an imbalance of white or non-minority officers. In many communities there simply are not enough minority applicants and/or minority applicants are not able to meet the minimum qualifications to make the force. This is not a reflection on the police departments but simply another indication that our society does not raise or educate our children well enough to be equipped to be productive contributing citizens.
If more people who produce offspring would then become parents in the sense that they are willing to take the responsibility for teaching, supporting and nurturing the children they produce, many of our society’s woes would not exist.
Too many of today’s children, and many of today’s adults for that matter, have no concept of the need to get a proper education, become self-reliant and be considerate of those around them.
Until the idea of personal responsibility once again becomes prevalent in our society we will continue or this downward spiral.

The criminal element has become better armed and more dangerous, hence police need the same arsenal. even though fully automatic guns, grenades, are illegal, these criminals get them via the black market.

One most also notice these problems exist in cities; areas that are primarily more liberal than their rural conservative counter parts. We also need to examine the affects of the increased liberalism and associated entitlement mentality that has created these situations.

Finally, we need to get people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton under control, they move in, stir up their masses, and cause this friction without knowing the facts. it is beginning to look more and more like this young thief was in fact charging the cop leaving him no choice but to shoot. The St Louis dispatch post says there are 12 witnesses corroborating that story.

However, in the end, the TEA party people are going to say “I told you so” – Seems they are the ones asking for smaller and less government. Liberals have been clamoring for more and better police for years.

229 Murders YTD in Chicacgo, mostly young black males. Why in the world is there not a protest there, why are the keynote speakers not flying to Chicago to demand an answer for this senseless loss of life? It is a shame when there is any loss of life, in any community. Yet, the number of people that are killed due to police action palls to comparison to those killed by members of their own community. Which means the only important factor is who the shooter may have been, with no concern for the victims. I guess a good story should never get in the way of the truth.

We need a national movement to get every cop to wear a camera when on duty. It can save lives and millions of dollars annually. This is 2014 for goodness sake, the technology is here and inexpensive. We should have video cameras on their lapels and in squad cars, for the same reason the police are putting them all over the streets. We have cameras in school busses but not all police cars? After a crime we can figure out who and want happened.

Well when you are spying on people using advanced technology and you are getting tanks and you are having people go and get their training in SWAT. It should be noted that there are over 50,000 SWAT raids in America and 1 in 108 Americans are incarcerated and for African Americans something 1 in 37 and then just look at states such as NY and all the Stop and Frisk and stopping while black and pepper spray and choke holds and White Water rafting trips and doesn’t that Apple guy have a tank like thing and were not people complaining? Now let’s also look at the disparity not only in policing but who is on the forces and the demographics as well as the obvious failure to prosecute fully the cremes of law enforcement from top to bottom. Then the things like flipping and lining up the community and all the other things that create disparity and anger. Obviously some people are oblivious and some can not afford to be. But remember we are number one in incarceration with less than 4% of the world’s population but about 25% of all the prisoners in the world. The optics of America pointing military guns on kids and riding around in tanks throwing teargas and smoke grenades along with the NSA and and all the weapons and history of renditions and torture does not make America as Leader of the Free World such an easy sell.

It’s a joke to assume police do not actually have to engage in battle with dangerous people armed to the teeth. Their tools are not the issue here. We choose not to have an honest discussion because so many fear the repercussions of free and honest debate due to the ramifications associated with it. We have a segment of our society that have passed judgement based on their racist assumptions. That has trumped an officers constitutional protections. The fact is, this officer may well have acted criminally or negligently when stopping this young man through the point where he pulled his trigger for the last time. But we have seen this rush to judgement far too many times with the same ending when the real facts come in. Recall those Duke lacrosse players assumed guilty and their seasons ruined because that black woman just had to be telling the truth? Tawana Brawley was smeared with feces and racial epitaphs and Sharpton first came screaming about racism? Recall how Stephen Pagones was dragged through the mud only to be vindicated? When the dust settled, race baiters simply slicked away to wait until the next perceived wrong without an apology. Should these departments hire more minorities? Sure. If they can pass the minimum qualifications. But what do those minorities, once put in those positions endure and is it worth it? I’ll tell you from first hand experience. They are called vile names and sell outs when they do their jobs. These communities fail in many ways. Our governments pander to them and help them fail. We glorify their behavior and the ones that break away and succeed through hard work and determination are ignored or somehow vilified. Let’s be honest. These people rioting are ignorant criminals just projecting their own hatred upon others. Justice is the last thing on their minds. The Brown family is being used. I’m sorry for their loss and also sorry for each young person lost but ignored because they didn’t serve a purpose.